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US6135881A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Sports forecasting game

Assignee: Inventure Inc
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Filing: 1998-03-31
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Granted: 2000-10-24
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Expires: 2018-03-31
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Abstract

Abstract A method of remotely interfacing with at least one player in a rule-based game over a communication medium operatively connected to one or more communication devices including a visual display wherein each player is associated with a communication device, includes visually displaying at one or more of the communication devices a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player, retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player before any subsequent game choice is made by the player, applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved, generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make, transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player, and visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.

Inventors

  • 👤 James P. Abbott
  • 👤 Kenneth Mixter

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-04 23:05
CPC Classifications
A; A63; A63F; A63F13/00; A63F13/60; A63F13/65; A63F13/12; A63F13/30; A63F13/80; A63F13/33; A63F13/335; A63F2300/00; A63F2300/40; A63F2300/407; A63F2300/60; A63F2300/69; A63F2300/80; A63F2300/8011

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim 154 words
A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event comprising the steps of: (a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event; (b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories; (c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and (d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 154 words
A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event comprising the steps of: (a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event; (b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories; (c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and (d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a baseball game.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a basketball game.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a football game.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a hockey game.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a soccer game.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is an auto race.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said method is conducted over a communication medium operably connected to plural input/output devices each having means for inputting and outputting information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 12 words
The method of claim 8 wherein said communication medium is the Internet.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 82 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of permitting each of the players to designate an athletic performance category for an athlete as a risk selection, where the risk selection will increase a player's score if a first condition is satisfied and will decrease the player's score if a second condition is satisfied, where satisfaction of the first and second conditions are each determined by the information regarding the actual performance at the sporting event obtained in said obtaining step.
Claim 12
Independent Claim 195 words
A method of remotely interfacing with at least one player in a rule-based game over a communication medium operatively connected to one or more communication devices each having input and output means including visual display means wherein each player is associated with a communication device, the steps comprising: (a) visually displaying at one or more of the communication devices a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player; (b) retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections; (c) applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved; (d) generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make; (e) transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player; and (f) visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.
Claim 13
Independent Claim 195 words
A method of remotely interfacing with at least one player in a rule-based game over a communication medium operatively connected to one or more communication devices each having input and output means including visual display means wherein each player is associated with a communication device, the steps comprising: (a) visually displaying at one or more of the communication devices a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player; (b) retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections; (c) applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved; (d) generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make; (e) transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player; and (f) visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of repeating steps (b) through (f) until a predetermined actual event occurs.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 12 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the communication medium is the Internet.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 35 words
The method of claim 11, wherein said game is based on statistics generated by an actual Major League baseball game, and said game choices relate to statistical categories for athletes participating in said actual game.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of displaying the results of said rule-based game on the player's communication device substantially in real time subsequent to the completion of said actual game.
Claim 18
Independent Claim 316 words
A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event, comprising the steps of: (a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event; (b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories; (c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and (d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes; wherein the step of providing comprises the step of visually displaying at one or more communication devices over a communication medium a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player; and wherein the step of receiving comprises the steps of retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections, applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved, generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make, transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player, and visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.
Claim 19
Independent Claim 316 words
A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event, comprising the steps of: (a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event; (b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories; (c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and (d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes; wherein the step of providing comprises the step of visually displaying at one or more communication devices over a communication medium a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player; and wherein the step of receiving comprises the steps of retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections, applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved, generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make, transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player, and visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 12 words
The method of claim 16, wherein the communication medium is the Internet.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 35 words
The method of claim 16, wherein said game is based on statistics generated by an actual Major League baseball game, and said game choices relate to statistical categories for athletes participating in said actual game.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of displaying the results of said rule-based game on the player's communication device substantially in real time subsequent to the completion of said actual game.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 82 words
The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of permitting each of the players to designate an athletic performance category for an athlete as a risk selection, where the risk selection will increase a player's score if a first condition is satisfied and will decrease the player's score if a second condition is satisfied, where satisfaction of the first and second conditions are each determined by the information regarding the actual performance at the sporting event obtained in said obtaining step.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-10-24 2004-04-24 2004-10-24 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-10-24 2008-04-24 2008-10-24 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-10-24 2012-04-24 2012-10-24 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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